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The S.E.M. Ensemble, founded and directed by Petr Kotik, will present its annual Christmas concert at Paula Cooper Gallery’s main space in Chelsea on Tuesday, December 13 (8 pm). The program was designed to accommodate Mark di Suvero’s large sculpture exhibited in the gallery and will feature compositions for which the consideration of space is integral to their performances. The music will be performed around the artwork, with individual musicians or groups of players strategically placed in various parts of the room.

The concert will feature SEM in John Cage’s Atlas Eclipticalis (1961-62), performed simultaneously with Cage’s Fontana Mix and Aria (1958), and presented as a preview of the SEM Cage centennial concerts in 2012. Highlights will also include the New York premiere of Kate Soper’s cipher (2011); Luigi Nono’s “hay que caminar” soñando (1989) for two violins, performed by Conrad Harris and Tom Chiu; and Kotik’s Kontrabandt (1967), a four-channel work commissioned by the Electronic Music Studio of the West German Radio (WDR) in Cologne, Germany. Vocalist Kate Soper will be the soloist in Cage’s Aria as well as in her own work.

Since its first Christmas concert at Paula Cooper Gallery at midnight on December 24 1984, it has become a tradition for SEM to include an early music piece, and the December 13 program will also feature the Renaissance Venetian composer Giovanni Gabrieli whose music, designed for the unusual spatial configuration of St. Mark’s Basilica in Venice, requires musicians to be placed in various ends of the basilica’s gallery. SEM will perform two sections from his Sacrae Symphoniae (1597), scored for three consorts, performed here with brass and strings.

The 21st Season of Thomas Buckner’s innovative series of new music begins on September 17, 2009, with a presentation of the longstanding collaboration between saxophonist/composer Yusef Lateef and percussionist/composer Adam Rudolph. The collaborative duo of Yusef Lateef & Adam Rudolph began working together in 1988, and over the last 20 years, they have shared their work with enthusiastic audiences in Europe and the USA. Presented a few short weeks prior to Lateef’s 89th birthday, this evening’s program features three newly commissioned works and readings of original poetry by Yusef Lateef, with musical accompaniment.

“Lateef’s robust sound and dynamic phrasing brought the sheer essence of African-American music history to every note he played. Rudolph’s drumming was equally fascinating, spinning with lightning speed and propulsive acceleration.”
-Los Angeles Times

At nearly 89 years of age, DR. YUSEF LATEEF has been a major force on the international musical scene for more than six decades. He has been named an American Jazz Master for the year 2010 by the National Endowment for the Arts, in recognition of his many contributions to the world of music. His explorations into sound have led him from study of Eastern music since the 1950’s to a recent four year Senior Research Fellowship at Ahmadu Bello University, in Zaria, Nigeria. He contributed to the legendary groups of Dizzy Gillespe, Charles Mingus and Cannonball Adderly and led his own ensembles in tours worldwide. He has composed for and performed with the Detroit, New World, and Augusta Symphony Orchestras. His recent work The African American Epic Suite was recorded and performed by the Cologne Radio Orchestra and featured himself and Adam Rudolph as soloists. Dr. Lateef also has many publications to his credit in both music and literature. He is currently a Visiting Professor of Music at the University of Massachusetts. www.yuseflateef.com

Composer and hand percussionist ADAM RUDOLPH has been hailed as “a pioneer in world music” by the New York Times and “a master percussionist” by Musician magazine. He has recorded extensively and performed at festivals and concerts throughout the North & South America, Europe and Japan, with Don Cherry, Shankar, Foday Musa Suso, Kevin Eubanks, Pharoah Sanders, and Hassan Hakmoun. Rudolph has been on the faculty of Esalen Institute, California Institute of the Arts and the Danish Jazz Federation Summer Institute. He has received grants from the Cary Trust & NEA and has released several recordings and toured internationally his own ensemble, Adam Rudolph’s Moving Pictures. His first opera, The Dreamer, recently premiered to coincide with its CD release. Rudolph’s rhythm repository and methodology book, Pure Rhythm was published in 2006 by Advance Music, Germany. Rudolph has received grants and compositional commissions from the Rockefeller Foundation, Chamber Music America, Meet the Composer, Mary Flagler Cary Trust, the NEA, Arts International, Durfee Foundation and American Composers Forum. In July 2009 he received his second “New Works” grant from Chamber Music America. www.metarecords.com/adam.html

We proudly announce the Fall 2009 events for the 21st season of Interpretations, a New York-based concert series focusing on the relationship between contemporary composers and their interpreters. Featuring exciting premieres of new musical works from composers young and old, and new presentations collaborative endeavors between seasoned veterans of the avant-garde, Interpretations presents four Thursday evening events, once per month. All events take place at Roulette in SoHo.

“music of passing frictions and artful striations”, Nate Chinen, New York Times

September 17 – Adam Rudolph / Yusef Lateef: 3 World Premieres
A presentation of the longstanding collaboration between percussionist Adam Rudolph and saxophonist/composer Yusef Lateef (presented a few short days prior to Lateef’s 89th birthday). Featuring premiers of Lateef’s Concerto For Percussion (with the S.E.M Ensemble conducted by Petr Kotik) and A Syllogism (for baritone and piano, featuring Thomas Buckner), Rudolph’s Nightsky (for baritone and percussion, featuring Thomas Buckner), and readings of poetry by Yusef Lateef, with musical accompaniment.